Who are you? Me! Always have been, always will be. Otherwise, Apithology practitioner, Cheng Hsin player, Learning enabler, lover, friend, investor, prone to taking myself too seriously. What are you working on? My roles include Community Lead at Pollinators, Director of StartupWA, Bendigo Bank and Geraldton Airlines, and facilitator of an “Increasing Consciousness” group. I’m working on […]
Amanda Rowland has been pursuing a remarkable new venture since she was profiled in 2012 and is a past graduate of Catalyst. What is your venture? Edah Station In August, 2015 we (Amanda, Geoff, Angus and Toby) took possession of the lease of Edah Pastoral Station, a 250,000 acre former sheep station east of Yalgoo and the Spelt Project […]
Post authored by Paul Dyer, Pollinators Chairperson. In mid-January I and other Directors and staff met to progress works commenced twelve months ago on developing a Strategic Business Plan for the organisation. We have been generously supported in this work by Pracsys, with Jason McFarlane facilitating the most recent session. The work with Pracsys and Jason builds on the Pollinators past and […]
Author: Andrew Outhwaite Here at Pollinators we recognise that no matter how hardworking, well-informed or creative we may be as individuals or organisations, there are limits to what can be achieved alone. Realising big ideas, pursuing breakthrough innovations or transforming communities are best done with others, in collaboration. Recently, I participated on Aboriginal land management in […]
Pollinators have invested in the initial development phase of “Groundswell” to create business support programs and investor networks that enable the growth of high-potential organisations in the Midwest. Groundswell is a response to the lack of structured business support for high-potential organisations e.g. organisations with $200k-$1 million turnover whose next phase of growth may required outside investment and […]
It could read like the start of a great joke: “An artist, a businessman and a social entrepreneur walked into a bar….”, however while this newly-formed Alliance got off to a light-hearted start, it is a serious endeavour with significant implications for the future of the region. This week the Midwest’s three leading representative organisations signed a new […]
Each year we have several events and programs, like Catalyst and Startup Weekend, where participants present their idea for a new innovation or venture to an audience. This can sometimes be the pinnacle of months or preparation, or just a few hours. However people come to this point it’s usually a key moment in the development of […]
Blues for the Bush combines a open day with evening entertainment at Bush Heritage Australia’s Charles Darwin Reserve, east of Perenjori. As part of the open day, Gunduwa Regional Conservation Organisation hosted a series of presentations on ‘collaboration’. Guiding questions for speakers included: Why collaborate, what is it all about, and is it ‘old’ or ‘new’. Collaboration is one […]
Fifteen local organisations have just celebrated completion of the Flock program, run by Pollinators Inc and seed-funded by the City of Greater Geraldton. This innovative and unique program proved a new approach that enables innovators and entrepreneurs to ‘fly further, faster, together’. The program is a fantastic example of how collaboration can contribute to the development of individual enterprises and community groups, all […]
Here’s a summary of some of they key points from the first Flock session. Making a commitment to (at least) one thing you will do to make Flock a success for you. The end of the session was most important — your commitment is something we will check in with at the second and subsequent sessions. This […]
Pollinators, supported by the City of Greater Geraldton, are excited to launch Flock – an innovative peer mentoring program. Participants came together last week for the opening session where they learned about the principles, action-learning approach and collaborated on prioritising the topics they wanted to focus on during the program. Flock has been designed to help be outstanding […]
Pollinators Inc Board are very happy to be sharing the final Evaluation Report of our activities and impact. Pollinators Inc contracted Clear Horizon to conduct an independent evaluation of its activities, events and services. The purpose of the evaluation was to understand: The effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of current activities, Areas for improving the organisation’s reach, relevance and impact, […]
On Thursday 20th March 2014, representatives from local and state government, non-profit and business came together at CityHive for the launch of the Midwest Learning Marketplace pilot project. Below is a summary and some of the highlights of the conversations, which are the basis for Pollinators expanding stakeholder engagement and developing the technology to meet […]
Pollinators Inc have contracted Clear Horizon to see if what we’re doing is really making a difference, creating the change we expected, if the impact is worth the investment, and how we can do it better in the future. (more…)
The Midwest community will benefit from the activities of thirteen stronger, smarter social ventures that will graduate from Pollinators’ Catalyst program this Friday 6th December. (more…)
Anyone starting a new venture, business or community project will have access to an all-star line-up of advisers, funders and mentors at the “Growing Good” event on Tuesday 26th November at CityHive. (more…)
UPDATE 13th November 2013: Since posting this letter City of Greater Geraldton staff, CEO and Mayor have all responded to this letter and addressed many of the concerns. The Council responses are thorough explanations of this participatory budgeting process, and how past consultations and strategies feed into it. If you are reading this blog and […]
This is both a plug for our city and community, and a serious question to which I think the answer is ‘YES’. That is, if you want to progress some form of social change at a community-scale then Geraldton may the best place in Australia to do it. If you’re a Geraldton resident, then you […]
Pollinators hosted a “Brains Trust” session on how to discover and share the best of Geraldton. This blog posts summarises some of the thinking and opportunities shared by those who attended from government, business, community organisations and even some tourists. We’ll introduce some ‘design thinking’, background to the project and share some interesting discoveries and […]
As part of Pollinators’ Catalyst program for social entrepreneurs in Geraldton, we ran a workshop on ‘Getting the model right’ to suit the diversity of participants ventures — community groups, freelancers, businesses and government. In the preparation and follow up on the workshop, it’s turned out the tools and tips we shared have been very relevant in […]
